Saturday, November 22, 2014

A Look Back At The 2000 Darryl Shirk Memorial Race

Back in 2000, The Darryl Shirk Memorial Race ended the season at Antioch Speedway with a $1,000 to win race for the Wingless Spec Sprints. It was another full field with enough cars for a B Main. Not bad for the division's second season at the track. They were settling into their role as co headliners at the track.

One of the things I love about the division was how it brought open wheel veterans together with newcomers and racers with stock car back grounds. Anybody who had it together could compete in this division and challenge for victory. In fact, that point was highlighted well by two drivers who led several laps of the big race.

To my knowledge, this was "Rockin" Richard Panfili's best ever finish, and he's still competing in the Spec Sprint Division. In fact, Rick was top five in the points this season. Way to go Rick. I'll admit I tended to get excited when some of the "little guys" started to get competitive. Those two leaders in this race were two I enjoyed seeing do well, and I may have been shaking the recorder a little as I held it and the microphone while announcing.

We had three drivers with a shot at the championship. There was a young up and comer named Travis Berryhill. We had Eric Mentch, who had raced at the track through much of the 1990's. And, there was the open wheel veteran Jim Perry Jr. With double points on the line, Mentch's point lead was not safe.

So, who won this race? How about you listen to the call everybody heard that night and relive the excitement. The call was later featured on California Racing Online. I'm hoping to have more classic audio calls up here in the future.